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Iran has won the coin toss and has elected to receive.


The retaliation has begun. Waiting for news media to catch up.
https://abc7chicago.com/drone-attack-jordan-strike-us-response/14381535/

First target: Syria
Just glass em and be done with it… I know that’s horrible, but it’s how I FEEL.
And that's the reaction you get when you base your response on feelings alone. Hopefully clearer heads will prevail.
Targeted attacks against most militant AO’s. We have great precision technology to make this quick and to the point.
I think this is the first volley in what will turn out to be a multi pronged response and rightfully so. I believe it will also show that you can target your enemy without a huge civilian toll.
Originally Posted by PitDAWG
And that's the reaction you get when you base your response on feelings alone. Hopefully clearer heads will prevail.

I acknowledged it was horrible, you troll. Did you think that was me asking for a tongue lashing from you? Smh.
Need to do more than what is currently showing. That much is for sure. We'll see what else is in store...
You won't receive a tongue lashing of any sort from me no matter how much you beg. Let me remind you of how a message board woks since you have obviously forgotten. You can post anything within the context of the rules. I can respond with anything within the context of the rules. When you post that you are in favor of committing genocide don't expect people to be silent about it. Put on your big boy panties for a change. You call for genocide and I respond. Quite tamely I might add. And then you accuse me of being a troll? Well of course you did. Suck it up butter cup. Don't support crimes against humanity and expect everyone to be silent about such stupidity.
Originally Posted by dawglover05
Need to do more than what is currently showing. That much is for sure. We'll see what else is in store...

I will be happy if we sink Iran's navy.
Originally Posted by PitDAWG
You won't receive : roflrofl:a tongue lashing of any sort from me no matter how much you beg. Let me remind you of how a message board woks since you have obviously forgotten. You can post anything within the context of the rules. I can respond with anything within the context of the rules. When you post that you are in favor of committing genocide don't expect people to be silent about it. Put on your big boy panties for a change. You call for genocide and I respond. Quite tamely I might add. And then you accuse me of being a troll? Well of course you did. Suck it up butter cup. Don't support crimes against humanity and expect everyone to be silent about such stupidity.

In what world do you think I give a damn about anything that comes from your mouth or brain? rofl rofl rofl You crack me up.
You certainly don't care about committing genocide so that goes a long way in telling people what you do and don't care about. I actually consider it a compliment that you don't care what i have to say considering you think the middle east should be turned to glass. I wouldn't want or expect someone with such warped thinking to care about much of anything.
It looks like we hit 85 targets in Iraq and Syria.

It is supposedly a multi day multi prong attack. So more coming.
It sounds as though they're sending the proper message.
Originally Posted by PitDAWG
You certainly don't care about committing genocide so that goes a long way in telling people what you do and don't care about. I actually consider it a compliment that you don't care what i have to say considering you think the middle east should be turned to glass. I wouldn't want or expect someone with such warped thinking to care about much of anything.

So? Now do you think I care what you or ‘others’ think? You’re a joke that can’t see itself. 5000 blah b;ah posts a week put you there.
Waiting to see if we attack any IRGC positions. I highly doubt we do. Iran should not be off the table if we want these attacks to end imo. I am happy to see that we are responding at least somewhat strongly, or so it seems. I just don’t have any faith that Iran won’t stop if we don’t bloody their nose.
Originally Posted by OldColdDawg
So? Now do you think I care what you or ‘others’ think? You’re a joke that can’t see itself. 5000 blah b;ah posts a week put you there.

Aw. You're wittle feewings are hurt. I'm not the one advocating genocide here. I don't think you care. Anyone that desires to wipe out an entire region of the world doesn't care much about anything. And since you can't defend that of course you try to turn the tables and make it about me. That's very trumpian of you.

And it seems your math is quite flawed. 5000 a week? I hope nobody ever hires you to do their books. lol
jc

New strikes against Houthis in Yemen.
US, Britain strike Yemen’s Houthis in a new wave, retaliating for attacks by Iran-backed militants

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Britain struck 36 Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday in a second wave of assaults meant to further disable Iran-backed groups that have relentlessly attacked American and international interests in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. But Washington once more did not directly target Iran as it tries to find a balance between a forceful response and intensifying the conflict.

U.S. Central Command said its forces conducted an additional strike on Sunday “in self-defense against a Houthi anti-ship cruise missile prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea,” according to a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“U.S. forces identified the cruise missile in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined it presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region. This action will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy vessels and merchant vessels,” the post added.

The strikes on Saturday against the Houthis were launched by U.S. warships and American and British fighter jets. The strikes followed an air assault in Iraq and Syria on Friday that targeted other Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan last weekend.

The Houthi targets on Saturday were in 13 different locations and were struck by U.S. F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, by British Typhoon FGR4 fighter aircraft and by the Navy destroyers USS Gravely and the USS Carney firing Tomahawk missiles from the Red Sea, according to U.S. officials and the U.K. Defense Ministry. The U.S. officials were not authorized to publicly discuss the military operation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. warned its response after the soldiers’ deaths at the Tower 22 base in Jordan last Sunday would not be limited to one night, one target or one group. While there has been no suggestion the Houthis were directly responsible, they have been one of the prime U.S. adversaries since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said that more than 26,000 people have been killed and more than 64,400 wounded in the Israeli military operation since the war began.

The Houthis have been conducting almost daily missile or drone attacks against commercial and military ships transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and they have made clear that they have no intention of scaling back their campaign despite pressure from the American and British campaign.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a Houthi official, said “military operations against Israel will continue until the crimes of genocide in Gaza are stopped and the siege on its residents is lifted, no matter the sacrifices it costs us.” He wrote online that the “American-British aggression against Yemen will not go unanswered, and we will meet escalation with escalation.”

The Biden administration has indicated that this is likely not the last of its strikes. The U.S. has blamed the Jordan attack on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iranian-backed militias. Iran has tried to distance itself from the drone strike, saying the militias act independently of its direction.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that the military action, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, “sends a clear message to the Houthis that they will continue to bear further consequences if they do not end their illegal attacks on international shipping and naval vessels.”

He added: “We will not hesitate to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways.”

The Defense Department said the strikes targeted sites associated with the Houthis’ deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, radars and helicopters. The British military said it struck a ground control station west of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, that has been used to control Houthi drones that have launched against vessels in the Red Sea.

President Joe Biden was briefed on the strikes before he left Delaware on Saturday for a West Coast campaign trip, according to an administration official.

The latest strikes marked the third time the U.S. and Britain had conducted a large joint operation to strike Houthi weapon launchers, radar sites and drones. The strikes in Yemen are meant to underscore the broader message to Iran that Washington holds Tehran responsible for arming, funding and training the array of militias — from Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen — who are behind attacks across the Mideast against U.S. and international interests.

Video shared online by people in Sanaa included the sound of explosions and at least one blast was seen lighting up the night sky. Residents described the blasts as happening around buildings associated with the Yemeni presidential compound. The Houthi-controlled state-run news agency, SABA, reported strikes in al-Bayda, Dhamar, Hajjah, Hodeida, Taiz and Sanaa provinces.

Hours before the latest joint operation, the U.S. took another self-defense strike on a site in Yemen, destroying six anti-ship cruise missiles, as it has repeatedly when it has detected a missile or drone ready to launch. The day before the strikes the U.S. destroyer Laboon and F/A-18s from the Eisenhower shot down seven drones fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into the Red Sea and the destroyer Carney shot down a drone fired in the Gulf of Aden and U.S. forces took out four more drones that were prepared to launch.

The Houthis’ attacks have led shipping companies to reroute their vessels from the Red Sea, sending them around Africa through the Cape of Good Hope — a much longer, costlier and less efficient passage. The threats also have led the U.S. and its allies to set up a joint mission where warships from participating nations provide a protective umbrella of air defense for ships as they travel the critical waterway that runs from the Suez Canal down to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

During normal operations, about 400 commercial vessels transit the southern Red Sea at any given time.

In the wake of the strikes Friday in Iraq and Syria, Hussein al-Mosawi, spokesperson for Harakat al-Nujaba, one of the main Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, said Washington “must understand that every action elicits a reaction.” But in an AP interview in Baghdad, he also struck a more conciliatory tone. “We do not wish to escalate or widen regional tensions,” he said.

Iraqi officials have attempted to rein in the militias, while also condemning U.S. retaliatory strikes as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and calling for an exit of the 2,500 U.S. troops who are in the country as part of an international coalition to fight the Islamic State group. Last month, Iraqi and U.S. military officials launched formal talks to wind down the coalition’s presence, a process that will likely take years.

https://apnews.com/article/iraq-iran-syria-jordan-strikes-us-2f235ac0d00edc266576ef0d76fa33e4
Well, this was a bunch of nothing. Iran is laughing. Biden is a weak ass president.
Originally Posted by EveDawg
Well, this was a bunch of nothing. Iran is laughing. Biden is a weak ass president.

That’s the GOPER spirit. It’s nothing to y’all when British and American forces join and strike our enemies to help keep worldwide shipping lanes open.
She doesn't care about the truth.
Look in the mirror. Libtards put their fingers in their ears about the truth. You want some truth? The truth is the Houthis are still alive and well and attacking the US in the Middle East. An inconvenient truth for you.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/yemens-houthi-rebels-continue-launch-attacks-month-us-led-airstrikes
There’s NO TRUTH on Fox News… silly REpTARD.

[Linked Image from media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com]

REpTARD Gold… otherwise known as Trumpian fools gold.
Originally Posted by EveDawg
Look in the mirror. Libtards put their fingers in their ears about the truth. You want some truth? The truth is the Houthis are still alive and well and attacking the US in the Middle East. An inconvenient truth for you.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/yemens-houthi-rebels-continue-launch-attacks-month-us-led-airstrikes

So is ISIS. So you're saying they haven''t been wiped out..... yet. Like I said, neither has ISIS and someone claimed they had actually finished that job and accomplished that mission. Wiping out the Houthis is still a work in progress. It's like claiming someone hasn't won a war while you're still in the middle of that war. But never let facts get in your way. You and your Repugnantcan cohorts haven't so far.
Cool Story. Biden is a weak ass president and that was a weak ass military response. Much like your blathering on this forum. Iran is laughing.
Repugnantcan nonsense. And we are laughing at you.
Weird how you laugh when you get your ass handed to you. Your retort is weak like your president.
Yet you are making claims in the middle of something happening as if you know the outcome. The response has not been weak and it's still ongoing. Of course your tactic is to ignore facts and sling insults. So you get what you deserve in response.
Originally Posted by PitDAWG
Yet you are making claims in the middle of something happening as if you know the outcome. The response has not been weak and it's still ongoing. Of course your tactic is to ignore facts and sling insults. So you get what you deserve in response.


The response up until now has been weak
US response to Tower 22 attack in Jordan: Less intense, more restrained than anticipated
US response to Tower 22 attack in Jordan: Less intense, more restrained than anticipated

Analysis

February 9, 2024
Mohammed Hassan
SHARE
Photo by Ameer Al-Mohammedawi/picture alliance via Getty Images
On the evening of Saturday, Feb. 3, local time, US warplanes bombed facilities used by Iranian forces and Iran-backed militias in Syria and Iraq, in retaliation for the death of 3 US service members in a Jan. 28 drone attack on Tower 22, a US military base in northeastern Jordan on the Syrian border. The airstrikes primarily targeted locations in eastern Syria and western Iraq.

In Syria, six main facilities were bombed, including the Syrian Border Guard building and al-Sekkeh crossing in al-Bukamal, the livestock market area on the outskirts of al-Mayadin, east of Deir ez-Zor, and munitions depots on Cinema Fouad and Port Said streets in the center of Deir ez-Zor city. West of the city, the airstrikes targeted the strategic Ayyash weapons depot and an Iranian militia base in the desert outside al-Tabni town.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, the airstrikes mainly targeted al-Anbar Governorate, especially the border areas with Syria, including a facility used by the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and pro-Iran militias in al-Qa’im and Akashat, where their command and communication centers are located on both sides of the Syria-Iraq border.

According to preliminary reports, the airstrikes in Syria killed 29 members of Iranian militias, including 9 Syrians, 6 Iraqis, 6 members of Lebanese Hezbollah, and 8 unidentified persons, likely to be Afghans and Iranians. In total, 10 people were killed in al-Mayadin and 10 in Deir ez-Zor and the Ayyash depot.

In Iraq, the airstrikes killed 16 people and injured 24, according to the Iraqi government, which stated that “the bombing in al-Qa’im and Akashat in western Anbar caused civilian deaths.”

Apart from the fact that they sought to deter and respond to the latest attack, the US airstrikes differed from previous military actions in several ways, both at the operational level and in terms of their overall objective.

The operational shift was clear in the choice of targets: For the first time, US warplanes bombed military targets affiliated with pro-Iran militias in the center of Deir ez-Zor. The airstrikes targeted weapons and munitions depots near al-Umran Institution on Port Said Street and a weapons depot on Cinema Fouad Street, in addition to the al-Jabal outlook overseeing Deir-ez-Zor city and its military airport.

These are some of the most tightly guarded locations in the densely populated city, used by Iranian militias as weapons depots and centers to oversee operations against US forces stationed in the Green Village at the al-Omar oil field base and the Conoco gas field base, which are the two most important US bases in Deir ez-Zor Governorate.

In addition to the operational shift, the US airstrikes were also marked by a change in their overall objective. The strikes did not seek to cause the greatest possible number of casualties or target the leaders of Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq; rather, they sought to undermine the military capabilities and the command and control posts of those militias, in an attempt to reduce their ability to carry out similar attacks in the future.

A clear indication that the US objective was to destroy those militias’ military capabilities is the nature of the targets chosen. In Anbar, the airstrikes targeted the posts of the PMF and Iranian militias in al-Qa’im and Akashat, used to coordinate between their Iraqi and their Syrian branches. These posts also oversee the transport of weapons and fighters between the two countries and manage the intelligence used to launch attacks against US forces, most recently the Tower 22 and al-Omar attacks.

The airstrikes also targeted many weapons and munitions depots, including those of the PMF in al-Qa’im and Akashat, Iranian militia depots in al-Bukamal and central Deir ez-Zor, and the Ayyash depots. While this greatly undermines the capabilities of those militias, the latter still pose a threat, given their ability to replenish their weapons and munitions from Iran through Iraq.

Despite their intensity and the range of targets, several factors minimized the impact of the US airstrikes. First, Washington lost the element of surprise by declaring its intention to strike those responsible for the attack that caused the death of 3 US service members. The actual strikes were carried out nearly a week after the announcement, which gave those parties ample time to evacuate and go into hiding. This may be an indication that the US did not wish to exacerbate the conflict in the region, which would explain why no senior leaders were killed in the airstrikes.

Second, the US did not target Iran to avoid expanding the ongoing war and engaging Iran directly. The strikes were carried out in areas controlled by pro-Iran militias on the Syria-Iraq border in the cities of al-Mayadin, Deir ez-Zor, al-Qa’im, and elsewhere. In fact, these areas are routinely targeted by the US and sometimes Israel to avoid striking targets on Iranian soil or even the leaders of Iranian forces in Iraq and Syria who oversee those militias’ activities.

After the US response, several scenarios were anticipated: First, that the strikes would deter militias in Iraq and Syria from attacking US forces temporarily, given that the US tried to communicate the message that the death of its service members is a red line that would entail a military response.

The second scenario, which turned out to be true, expected the attacks by armed groups against US targets to continue, due to the limited scope of the airstrikes against the militias in Syria and Iraq. In reality, as US warplanes were bombing their targets, the so-called “Islamic Resistance” factions targeted the Ain al-Asad Airbase in Anbar Governorate and the al-Harir Airbase in Iraqi Kurdistan. The US base at al-Omar oil field in eastern Deir ez-Zor, Syria, was also struck by missiles, which killed six members of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a key US ally.

In light of the above, it can be said that the US response to the Tower 22 attack was less intense and more restrained than anticipated, in line with the calculated escalation strategy governing the conflict between the US and Iran. On the one hand, this enables the two countries to avoid a direct confrontation that is in neither party’s interest at the moment; and, on the other hand, the US strikes, given their limited nature, did not elicit a retaliation from militias in Syria and Iraq against US forces and interests in both countries.

Following this incident, Iran is likely to rethink its strategy vis-à-vis its proxies in the region to prevent an escalation that Tehran wishes to avoid at present, especially since it has reiterated on every occasion that it does not seek a direct confrontation barring an attack on Iranian soil.



Mohammed Hassan is a Non-Resident Scholar with MEI’s Syria Program and a master’s student in the Department of International Relations at the Higher School of Journalism in Paris. His writings focus on the regions of northern and eastern Syria, especially extremist Islamic groups and tribal societies.

Photo by Ameer Al-Mohammedawi/picture alliance via Getty Images

https://www.mei.edu/publications/us...less-intense-more-restrained-anticipated

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna136928

Articles are just some info
We needed to cause Iran a pain point. Not play wackamole with underling puppets while Iran pulls the strings. Biden is weak. He is showing our enemies that they can do what they want and get away with it.
https://thehill.com/opinion/nationa...-long-game-and-washington-is-losing/amp/

https://www.chronicleonline.com/opi...cd0d5a2-c6a5-58a6-a9cc-c8034087ca2b.html

A couple of opinion pieces
Originally Posted by EveDawg
We needed to cause Iran a pain point. Not play wackamole with underling puppets while Iran pulls the strings. Biden is weak. He is showing our enemies that they can do what they want and get away with it.

As much as I hate to have to agree with you I do. We should have obliterated their special units who train and arm those who attacked us. While we are at it we should sink the Iranian ship that it running the operations out of Yemen.

We hear from the administration that we don’t want to escalate to a war with Iran. I get that but I don’t think Iran would dare escalate if we were forceful in our response. The mullahs want to stay in power. That won’t happen if we go to war with them.
Originally Posted by EveDawg
We needed to cause Iran a pain point. Not play wackamole with underling puppets while Iran pulls the strings. Biden is weak. He is showing our enemies that they can do what they want and get away with it.

Weak is GOPers in Congress sitting on their thumbs all butt hurt about losing elections.
I know many of you would prefer an escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas and in that region of the world in general. I'm not sure if it's because you are simply hawkish in nature or think it's time to fulfill biblical prophecy.
Originally Posted by PitDAWG
I know many of you would prefer an escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas and in that region of the world in general. I'm not sure if it's because you are simply hawkish in nature or think it's time to fulfill biblical prophecy.

Since you replied to me I’ll answer. I do not want to see an escalation in the war but more importantly I don’t want to see my fellow Americans attacked. Not responding with overwhelming force does that.

Maybe those who don’t want to defend our interests are dovish by nature or just don’t care about our service members
Overwhelming force means dead Americans and shipping lanes closed until it’s all over.
The consequences never enter into their thinking when hawkish is their only train of thought.
When we live in a shoot first, ask questions later, gun crazed counter culture society right here in the USA. What else should we expect?
It's been that way for decades from watching it during my lifetime alone. The hawkish ones are of the shoot first and worry about the consequences later variety. There's nothing "measured" about their thinking. Then there are those who wish to avoid conflict at all costs so it's not like I don't get what they're saying. But that isn't the situation here.

In the second strike alone they struck 36 Houthi targets in Yemen.
My opinion has always been and always will be “we shouldn’t be there in the first place.” The only reason we are is $$$. Let them kill each other, not US.
That's fine if you wish to stand by and allow those shipping lanes to be closed down. I don't want us to get involved in the middle of a war abut that's different than keeping those shipping lanes open. Thus far a fine line is being walked to prevent us from being in the middle of a war. If that line gets crossed and we do get fully engaged in a war over there I would tend to agree with you.
Originally Posted by Pdawg
Maybe those who don’t want to defend our interests are dovish by nature or just don’t care about our service members

And maybe people just make up BS....

US and British strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen answer militants’ surge in Red Sea attacks on ships

Updated 8:54 AM CST, February 25, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and Britain struck 18 Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday, answering a recent surge in attacks by the Iran-backed militia group on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, including a missile strike this past week that set fire to a cargo vessel.

According to U.S. officials, American and British fighter jets hit sites in eight locations, targeting missiles, launchers, rockets, drones and air defense systems. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in order to provide early details of an ongoing military operation.

This is the fourth time that the U.S. and British militaries have conducted a combined operation against the Houthis since Jan. 12. But the U.S. has also been carrying out almost daily strikes to take out Houthi targets, including incoming missiles and drones aimed at ships, as well as weapons that were prepared to launch.

The U.S. F/A-18 fighter jets launched from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, which is currently in the Red Sea, officials said.

“The United States will not hesitate to take action, as needed, to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways,” said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “We will continue to make clear to the Houthis that they will bear the consequences if they do not stop their illegal attacks.”

The Houthis denounced the “US-British aggression” and vowed to keep up its military operation in response. “The Yemeni Armed Forces affirm that they will confront the US-British escalation with more qualitative military operations against all hostile targets in the Red and Arabian Seas in defense of our country, our people and our nation,” it said in a statement.

The U.S., U.K., and other allies said in a statement the “necessary and proportionate strikes specifically targeted 18 Houthi targets across 8 locations in Yemen” that also included underground storage facilities, radar and a helicopter.

U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said RAF Typhoon jets engaged in “precision strikes” aimed at degrading Houthi drones and launchers. Shapps said it came after “severe Houthi attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, including against the British-owned MV Islander and the MV Rubymar, which forced the crew to abandon ship.” It’s the fourth time Britain has joined in the U.S.-led strikes.

The strikes have support from the wider coalition, which includes Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

President Joe Biden and other senior leaders have repeatedly warned that the U.S. won’t tolerate the Houthi attacks against commercial shipping. But the counterattacks haven’t appeared to diminish the Houthis’ campaign against shipping in the region, which the militants say is over Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“Our aim remains to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea, but we will once again reiterate our warning to Houthi leadership: we will not hesitate to continue to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in the face of continued threats,” said the Saturday statement.

The Houthis have launched at least 57 attacks on commercial and military ships in the the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since Nov. 19, and the pace has picked up in recent days.

“We’ve certainly seen in the past 48, 72 hours an increase in attacks from the Houthis,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said in a briefing Thursday. And she acknowledged that the Houthis have not been deterred.

“We never said we’ve wiped off the map all of their capabilities,” she told reporters. “We know that the Houthis maintain a large arsenal. They are very capable. They have sophisticated weapons, and that’s because they continue to get them from Iran.”

There have been at least 32 U.S. strikes in Yemen over the past month and a half; a few were conducted with allied involvement. In addition, U.S. warships have taken out dozens of incoming missiles, rockets and drones targeting commercial and other Navy vessels.

Earlier Saturday, the destroyer USS Mason downed an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from Houthi-held areas in Yemen toward the Gulf of Aden, U.S. Central Command said, adding that the missile was likely targeting MV Torm Thor, a U.S.-Flagged, owned, and operated chemical and oil tanker.

The U.S. attacks on the Houthis have targeted more than 120 launchers, more than 10 surface-to-air-missiles, 40 storage and support building, 15 drone storage building, more than 20 unmanned air, surface and underwater vehicles, several underground storage areas and a few other facilities.

The rebels’ supreme leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, announced this past week an “escalation in sea operations” conducted by his forces as part of what they describe as a pressure campaign to end Israel’s war on Hamas.

But while the group says the attacks are aimed at stopping that war, the Houthis’ targets have grown more random, endangering a vital waterway for cargo and energy shipments traveling from Asia and the Middle East onward to Europe.

During normal operations, about 400 commercial vessels transit the southern Red Sea at any given time. While the Houthi attacks have only actually struck a small number of vessels, the persistent targeting and near misses that have been shot down by the U.S. and allies have prompted shipping companies to reroute their vessels from the Red Sea.

Instead, they have sent them around Africa through the Cape of Good Hope — a much longer, costlier and less efficient passage. The threats also have led the U.S. and its allies to set up a joint mission where warships from participating nations provide a protective umbrella of air defense for ships as they travel between the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

In Thursday’s attack in the Gulf of Aden, the Houthis fired two missiles at a Palau-flagged cargo ship named Islander, according to Central Command said. A European naval force in the region said the attack sparked a fire and wounded a sailor on board the vessel, though the ship continued on its way.

Central Command launched attacks on Houthi-held areas in Yemen on Friday, destroying seven mobile anti-ship cruise missiles that the military said were prepared to launch toward the Red Sea.

Central Command also said Saturday that a Houthi attack on a Belize-flagged ship on Feb. 18 caused an 18-mile (29-kilometer) oil slick and the. military warned of the danger of a spill from the vessel’s cargo of fertilizer. The Rubymar, a British-registered, Lebanese-operated cargo vessel, was attacked while sailing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The missile attack forced the crew to abandon the vessel, which had been on its way to Bulgaria after leaving Khorfakkan in the United Arab Emirates. It was transporting more than 41,000 tons of fertilizer, according to a Central Command statement.

The Associated Press, relying on satellite images from Planet Labs PBC of the stricken vessel, reported Tuesday that the vessel was leaking oil in the Red Sea.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government on Saturday called for other countries and maritime-protection organizations to quickly address the oil slick and avert “a significant environmental disaster.

https://apnews.com/article/yemen-ho...ar-gaza-89b3f92ae9dd6279b56d945439010a27

But I do understand how anything short of an all out war simply won't satisfy some strange, yet obvious blood lust they seem to crave.
Originally Posted by PitDAWG
That's fine if you wish to stand by and allow those shipping lanes to be closed down. I don't want us to get involved in the middle of a war abut that's different than keeping those shipping lanes open. Thus far a fine line is being walked to prevent us from being in the middle of a war. If that line gets crossed and we do get fully engaged in a war over there I would tend to agree with you.


Ships can go around the horn to get to US. Again the only reason we’re there is money.
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